The Plato Paradigm

Socrates pretends to suspect that virtue is not episteme (knowledge, understanding) because any episteme of anything requires the presence of teachers and students. Meno accepts this fallacy but questions whether there seem to Socrates to be no teachers or students of virtue. Here I read through Platonic dialogues, translating and commenting on the Greek text as I go. The resulting analyses may be...

Socrates and Meno finally come to end of the argument following the hypothesis that virtue is teachable. Here I read through Platonic dialogues, translating and commenting on the Greek text as I go. The resulting analyses may be found at: https://theplatoparadigm.com

Prudence (phronēsis) is found to be all or part of virtue (aretē). Given that this has followed from the hypothesis that virtue is teachable, it would seem that phronēsis does not come to people by nature. Socrates supports this conclusion with compelling evidence. Naturally good children are not kept under guard in the acropolis until they are of an age to benefit cities, and this indicates that...

The argument following the hypothesis continues. Socrates arrives at the formulation that the intelligent soul uses things correctly, while the untintelligent soul uses things mistakenly. After this high point the argument once again deteriorates into one blatant mistake after another, without Meno noticing any wrong. Here I read through Platonic dialogues, translating and commenting on the Greek...

Phronesis (prudence) is regarded by some Greek philosophers as virtue itself, with the cardinal virtues being aspects of it. Phronesis in this argument is presented as an addition to the virtues, in keeping with Meno's inability to think abstractly. It is only with the addition of phronesis that anything becomes beneficial. Here I read through Platonic dialogues, translating and commenting on the...

Socrates continues to explore the ramifications of the hypothesis that virtue, if teachable, would be an episteme (knowledge/understanding). Following the concluson that good things such as health, wealth, strength, and beauty are beneficial ony when used with intelligence (nous), but harmful when used without intelligence, this time Socrates begins considering the good things of the soul, the. fi...

Here is the hypothesis: If virtue is some sort of knowledge, it will be teachable. Since virtue is also a good thing (it isn't - it is simply the characteristic of good things, just as bravery is the characteristic of brave things), if we find that all good things involve knowledge, then virtue will also be a knowledge, and then we'll know that it is teachable. Socrates gives Meno many opportuniti...

Socrates applies the hypothetical method to virtue. If virtue is something like episteme (knowledge, understanding), then it is teachable or recollectable. Meno enthusiastically agrees that nothing is taught other than episteme. Here I read through Platonic dialogues, translating and commenting on the Greek text as I go. The resulting analyses may be found at: https://theplatoparadigm.com

Meno has once again avoided saying what virtue is, this time by reverting to his original question, what sort of thing Socrates thinks virtue is, although this time omitting the option that it is exercisable. Socrates is faced with the dilemma of either confronting Meno or going along with Meno's desire to sit back and listen to Socrates. Socrates suggests usinng a hypothesis, and entertains Meno...

Socrates has finally broken the impasse (or rather, Meno has allowed the impasse to be broken, somehow - he's not sure how it happened). Now Meno is excited to get back to searching along with Socrates what virtue is. Or actually, he'd rather hear Socrates answer Meno's original question. Here I read through Platonic dialogues, translating and commenting on the Greek text as I go. The resulting an...

The Theory of Recollection - part 13: The demonstration - (post mortem, part 2): Socrates continues his sophistic and shoddy proof that the slave must have looked into his soul and found some episteme (knowledge, understanding) there. Meno is satisfied that Socrates has proved his point, although, as he says at the end, he doesn't know how. Here I read through Platonic dialogues, translating and c...

The Theory of Recollection - part 12: The demonstration - (post mortem): Socrates begins his sophistic and shoddy proof that the slave must have looked into his soul and found some episteme (knowledge, understanding) there. Socrates must be extremely disappointed that Meno and all those lurking Platonists fail to react to any of the deliberate inconsistencies. He'll have to try harder next time (a...

The Theory of Recollection - part 11: The demonstration - part 7 (final part): The rest of the demonstration after the aporetic interlude is surprisingly quick. Suddenly there is a potential base line the slave hadn't seen before. Socrates has just drawn the square with the double area, so that might have something to do with it. The demonstration clearly (to us) has nothing to do. with any Theory...

The Theory of Recollection - part 10: The demonstration - part 6: Socrates finishes talking to Meno about the aporia of the slave, while actually referring to the aporia of Meno himself. For the first time he mentions doxa (opinion, reputation - that which seems). Opinion will become very important in the second half of the dialogue. Here I read through Platonic dialogues, translating and commenti...

The Theory of Recollection - part 9: The demonstration - part 5: Socrates discusses with Meno the exercise so far, stressing how being numbed by the torpedo fish (using Meno's analogy) is no bad thing, but a necessary step towards searching for the truth. Vlastos' "Socratic Method" accepts that Socrates does indeed lead his interlocutors to the realization that they do not know what they thought t...

The Theory of Recollection - part 8: The demonstration - part 4: The slave is surprised to discover that the double area is not constructed on the double base-line (four units) or on the only other option, the base-line between two and four units, namely. the three-unit line. When asked to point at yet another base-line, he finds himself in an aporia, and it is worth comparing. this despairing apo...

The Theory of Recollection - part 7: The demonstration - part 3: The slave works out, with much help from Socrates, that a square with double the area of a smaller square is not constructed on double the base line. The area of a square constructed on double the base line is quadruple. We await patiently the demonstration of Recollection. Here I read through Platonic dialogues, translating and comm...

The Theory of Recollection - part 6: The demonstration - part 2: The slave works out (without being taught!) that a square with a side of two units has an area of four (squares). When asked about a square with double the area (eight squares), he confidently declares that the line of the square must be double too. Meno does not react, but we should. Here I read through Platonic dialogues, translati...

The Theory. of Recollection - part 5: The demonstration - part 1: Meno has been told to decide whether the slave is recollecting, or learning from Socrates. He should have told Meno to decide whether the slave is learning by recollecting or from Socrates. Instead of applying his nous (intellect), Meno simply watches, no matter how much Socrates tries to invalidate the demonstration. Here I read th...

The Theory. of Recollection - part 4: Preparing for the demonstration Meno is not allowed to have Socrates teach him that only recollection is learning (if Socrates teaches, then learning is not by recollection), so Meno asks for a demonstration instead, as if learning through seeing will prove that only recollection is learning. Socrates agrees to demonstrate this "difficult" task and continues t...

The Theory. of Recollection - part 3. Socrates continues to pile on the absurdities, and Meno conntinues to behave like a Platonist, failing to react to any of the obvious inconsistencies. The immortal soul knows everything (having seen it all, thanks to living forever), but the human knows nothing (no reason is given - it's as if there's no connection between the mental activity of the soul and t...

The Theory. of Recollection - part 2. Socrates piles on the absurdities, but Meno behaves like a Platonist and fails to react to any of the obvious inconsistencies. To take one example, in addition to the immortal soul routinely dying and coming to be, it now has seen everything and because of this it has learned everything. Among the things that it knows is virtue. In other words, the soul has se...

The Theory. of Recollection - part 1. Socrates entices Meno with priests, priestesses, and poets such as Pindar. They have an account of the soul, according to which the soul is immortal and yet dies and comes back to being. Socrates has told Meno to examine whether the account is true, and yet Meno fails to object even to this absurdity. Here I read through Platonic dialogues, translating and com...

Meno has effectively excused himself from answering again about virtue. Socrates pretends to acknowledge that neither of them knows what virtue is, in order to suggest that they search together for it. Meno immediately raises the eristic argument whereby searching is pointless - either one knows and therefore has no need of searching, or one does not know, which makes searching futile since one wo...

Meno celebrates his aporia, his lack of supply (of answers). He exploits what he has heard about Socrates and his ability to stun, like a torpedo fish, not only himself but anyone who touches him, and portrays himself as yet another one of Socrates' victims. Here I read through Platonic dialogues, translating and commenting on the Greek text as I go. The resulting analyses may be found at: https:/...